A potluck is a gathering of people where each participant is expected to bring a dish of food to be shared among the group. Baptist Potluck is where we will be gathering for "food for thought" from Baptists and "food for the soul" from the Word of God.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

MORMONISM: and what people want to know part 1

It has been a while since I have posted anything from my good friend Charlie Carle. Here is a two part posting from Charlie on Mormonism.

You can cut and paste for your own information, I will post part two on Monday > Bro. Jeff

MORMONISM:

And what people want to know. Does

The Church of

JESUS CHRIST

of Latter-day Saints

have a different Jesus Christ?

KEY QUESTIONS ON WHO IS THE LDS JESUS?

1 - DO THE LDS HAVE A DIFFERENT JESUS?

2 - WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT A DIFFERENT JESUS?

3 - IS JESUS THE DEVIL’S BROTHER?

4 - IS JESUS CHRIST THE ETERNAL GOD?

5 - WHO IS THE GOD-MAN?

6 - IS JESUS A SINNER WHO PROGRESSED?

7 - DID JESUS CHANGE FROM BEING GOD?

8 - IS JESUS A GOD AS A MORMON CAN BECOME A GOD?

9 - IS JESUS THE GOD OF THIS WORLD?

10 - IS JESUS PART OF THE TRINITY?

11 - IS JESUS THE FATHER?

12 - WAS JESUS HIS OWN FATHER?

13 - IS THE MORMON JESUS THE HEAVENLY FATHER’S GRANDSON?

14 - IS JESUS JUST ONE OF MANY GODS?

15 - IS ADAM OUR GOD BUT JESUS ISN’T?

16 - WAS JESUS VIRGIN BORN?

17 - DID MARY GIVE BIRTH TO HER OLDER BROTHER?

18 - IS JEHOVAH OUR ELDER BROTHER?

1 - DO THE LDS HAVE A DIFFERENT JESUS?

LDS people are offended to hear someone say they are not Christians. After all, "JESUS CHRIST" is emphasized in the name of their church. The first Article of Faith reads, "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." But is this the Jesus of the Bible?

Who is Jesus Christ of the LDS? President Gordon B. Hinckley clarified, "[Many] have said we are not Christians. ‘Mormons are not Christians,’ they say; they do not believe in the traditional Christ. No, I don’t. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak" (Church News, January, 1999; also June 20, p.7). A different Christ!

LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie taught that Christians have "a mythical Christ" (Mormon Doctrine, p.269). That means we must decide which faith has the real Christ because somebody surely has a mythical Christ. Do we have the same Jesus? No, if you read the LDS Ensign. It says Christian Churches worship a different Jesus (May 1977, p.26).

2 – WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT A DIFFERENT JESUS?

God warns about "false apostles, deceitful workers" (2 Corinthians 11:13). These come while they "preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached…or another gospel" (verse 4).

Jesus warned, "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Matthew 24:24). Any wrong Christ is to have the mark of a deceiver.

3 - IS JESUS THE DEVIL’S BROTHER?

Yes, as clarified by an LDS prophet. "…the Savior's example...when he was on the mountain with his fallen brother, Lucifer" (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pp.32-33; The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 216).

Yes, as clarified by the LDS Ensign to say, Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer (June 1986, p. 25).

Yes, as clarified by Milton R. Hunter of the First Council of the Seventy. "Lucifer...this spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the Savior of mankind" (The Gospel Through the Ages, 1945 ed., p. 15). This is official LDS doctrine. The title page reads, "Written and published under the direction of the General Priesthood Committee of the Council of the Twelve of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

Yes, as clarified by LDS apostle, Bruce McConkie. He wrote, "Lucifer, the son of the morning, is our elder brother and the brother of Jesus Christ" (Mormon Doctrine, p. 163-164). So these two older brothers are Jesus and the devil.

Can anybody explain how the Alpha and Omega can have a brother? Jesus is the Creator, Lucifer was created. A Jesus who exists as Lucifer’s brother is no more real than Henry Ford being the brother to a car made on the assembly line. How does the First and the Last create an equal? The Lord Jesus Christ made the worlds (Hebrews 1:2). The Lord made the heavens and its hosts (Psalm 33:6). The Son made "all things" (John 1:3). So how much is "all things"? Jesus created the dominions of angels, which includes the devils and Lucifer (Colossians 1:16-17; Ezekiel 28:13-15). While Jesus Christ exists from eternity past (Micah 5:2), Satan is a mere created being. Make no mistake; they were never brothers!

4 - IS JESUS CHRIST THE ETERNAL GOD?

No brother of the devil is ever the eternal God. But according to the LDS "ancient writers" of the Book of Mormon, can we identify Jesus Christ? The preface page reads, "JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD." The capitals were included for emphasis, because in his early days when Joseph Smith published the Book of Mormon that is what he believed. He was the "AUTHOR" (1830 ed. preface).

Is that what Mormons believed in 1830? Yes, that is what they believed! The LDS faith was never closer to Christianity. But by the end of Joseph Smith’s life, he (get this) changed God. He preached, "We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil" (Come Unto Me, p. 95). So (now get this too) he refuted the Book of Mormon (Mormon 9:10; Moroni 7:22; 8:18). He swept the entire foundation of the LDS church right into the theological ashcan.

So Christians are mystified. It is puzzling if you are intellectually honest. How can anyone change God? If a medical label reads, "Take two tablets before bedtime," does anyone say "That is just your interpretation"? What is the LDS way around this? They change God by redefinition. "Eternal" as an adjective is now a noun, God’s name is Eternal God. The LDS are taught not to question, even these absurdities (Mormon Doctrine, p. 233).

The Apostle Bruce McConkie was a most visible LDS leader in Provo and Salt Lake City. He wrote, "The Father is a glorified, perfected resurrected, exalted man who worked out his own salvation by obedience" (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p. 64). The man who became the Father was not eternal God. Since he died, he needed to be "resurrected". And once being a sinner, he needed "salvation". Where did he get a god like that? That is the theology system of Mormonism. But is it Christian? Is that LDS god the God of the Bible?

The LDS are eager to offer you the Book of Mormon. You have to wonder, why not the Doctrine and Covenants or The Pearl of Great Price? Christians believe move of the Book of Mormon in places than the LDS. It is the Christians who believe that there is an eternal God (Ether 8:23), there is only one God (Alma 11:27-29), that Jesus is God (Ether 3:17-18), and Christ is the Lord God Omnipotent, creator of all and above all (Mosiah 5:15).

Even an 1830 revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants has enough truth to say God is "infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God…infinite and eternal, without end" (D&C 20:17, 28). The D&C 39:1 is an 1831 quote that Jesus Christ "is from all eternity to all eternity, the Great I AM."

The Mormon church has the impossible Jesus. How can Jesus be the brother of the devil and not the brother of the devil? How can Jesus be created and uncreated? How can Jesus not create all things, yet create all things? How can Jesus be born as a spirit-child and yet be the eternal God? How can Jesus earn his own salvation while also being the sufficient Savior over the whole sinful world?

The LDS often tell Christians that they believe Jesus is God, but is that honest? Sometimes religions do not simply allow for you to lie, you are encouraged to lie and to deceive in order to promote that faith.

5 - WHO IS THE GOD-MAN?

Is Jesus Christ eternally God as the God-Man?

If He is not GOD, how was the church purchased with God’s "own blood"? (Acts 20:28). If He is not MAN, how was it that when the soldiers pierced His side "there came out blood and water"? (John 19:34).

If He is not GOD, why did the Jews believe He blasphemed when He claimed to be the great "I am"? (Mark 14:62-64; Exodus 3:14). If He is not MAN, why did Pilot say, "Behold, the man"? (John 19:5).

If He is not GOD, why did Jesus say, "Before Abraham was, I am"? (John 8:58). If He is not MAN, why would the Jews pick up stones to stone Him? (John 8:59).

If He is not GOD, who is Emmanuel "God with us"? (Matthew 1:23). If He is not MAN, who was the tiny babe Mary hugged to her breast? (Psalm 22:9).

If He is not GOD, why did John write, "Jesus Christ! This is the true God"? (1 John 5:20). If He is not MAN, why did Jesus say to John, "Behold, thy mother"? (John 19:27).

If He is not GOD, why did the Father say to Jesus, "Thy throne, Oh God is forever and ever"? (Hebrews 1:8). If He is not MAN, what did Paul mean, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus"? (1 Timothy 2:5).

If He is not GOD, how does all the fullness of the Godhead dwell in Him? (Col. 2:9). If He is not MAN, why does all the fullness of the Godhead dwell in Him "bodily"? (Col. 2:9).

If He is not GOD, whose glory did Stephen see while calling (praying) to Jesus as God? (Acts 7:55,59). If He is not MAN, whose body did he see standing to welcome him home? (Acts 7:55,59).

If He is not GOD, to whom was Thomas speaking when he cried, "My Lord and my God"? (John 20:28). If He is not MAN, who said, "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing"? (John 20:27). Jesus Christ, He is "My Lord and my God!" Jesus Christ is the God-Man.

Mormonism is the reverse of Biblical Christianity. In Mormonism, men become gods. According to God’s Word, God became a man!

6 - IS JESUS A SINNER WHO PROGRESSED?

Who was the god of Joseph Smith? Was the LDS Father just a sinner who progressed into godhood? Smith claimed that God was "once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth" (Teachings, pp.345-346).

The heresy continues that Jesus was also a sinner who had to progress in order to become worthy to be a god. "Christ attained Godhood while yet in pre-existence" (Mormon Doctrine, p. 323). He had attained unto the status of Godhood while yet in the premortal existence (What the Mormons Think of Christ, Pamphlet published by the LDS Church, 1976, p. 25). Howard W. Hunter said, Jesus will be called "the Prince of Peace, who is also the Prince of Glory and the Prince of Eternal Progress" (The Ensign, 2/95, p. 77).

The LDS explain: As a result, Jesus forgot everything about His former life. (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:33). Whereas, at the time of His mortal birth Jesus was no longer an infant spirit, it was necessary that His spirit be compressed, or diminished in size, so He could be enclosed in His infant body. (Orson Pratt, JD, 16:334). Now, this was the second birth of Jesus, for He was already the firstborn spirit child of Heavenly Parents. (Orson Pratt, JD, 18:290).

The Book of Mormon says God is Spirit (Alma 18:26-29; 22:8-11; 31:15). However, while fashioning a new god, Joseph Smith was discontent with that. One way to excuse the Alma verses is to claim it was simply the speakers who got it wrong. Then why weren’t they corrected within the text? And why are there no LDS teachings from 1830 to 1842 to contradict that God is Spirit? It was later when Joseph Smith claimed that God has a body of flesh and bones (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith - History 1:17; Doctrine and Covenants 130:22; Mormon Doctrine pp. 321, 567-577).

If a body is necessary to become a god, then how did the Holy Ghost ever become a god? (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 576-577).

7 - DID JESUS CHANGE FROM BEING GOD?

The Book of Mormon in the 1830 edition reads, "Behold, the virgin which thou seest, is the mother of God" (1 Nephi 11:18, p.25). Somebody changed the Book of Mormon! Christians never had those manuscripts so who is guilty of this deceit? The LDS no longer accepting the idea that Jesus is God, changed it to read the "Son of God." But if it was dictated word-for-word as being scripture from God, how can anybody ever change the Book of Mormon?

8 - IS JESUS A GOD AS A MORMON CAN BECOME A GOD?

An understanding of pyramid marketing helps to picture Mormonism. Each god has a god over him. Each has a father, a grandfather, great-grandfathers, and on into the great-great-greats of infinity. Each god has millions of children branching off, and many becoming gods. Then the younger gods have millions of children to populate their own planets and so the little gods produce gods – and so on. So logically, there is no special god, at least nothing beyond a god who happens to be the god over this world. So why should anyone admire a god who they plan to copy someday and even to the same level?

Cut-and-paste, Mormonism has a long history of trying to change God. Picture angels leaving the total awe of the throne room to see millions of the redeemed down on their faces before God. Angels cover their faces at His holiness and glory. The foundations of the temple shake. And once again these mighty angels are overwhelmed in viewing the Almighty on His throne. Then leaning over the balconies of Heaven, Michael nudges Gabriel and he points to say, "Hey, get a load of this! Listen to that little man down there. And can you believe how those people are following him?"

Hear Joseph Smith! Shortly before his death in 1844, he introduced the gods of Mormonism that are being embraced today. The 1843 Doctrine and Covenants reads, "Then shall they be gods, because they have all power" (132:20). One earmark of a heresy are these efforts to diminish God and to deify men into becoming gods. He preached, "We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea...he was once a man like us...you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you" (Mormon Doctrine p. 321; Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol 6, p.306; Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, pp.3-4).

Joseph Smith went from one god to three, then on to a whole council of gods. He introduced to Mormons the plan of self-exalting gods-in-embryo which remains the current position. From one God to an unrefined paganism and with a myriad of Gods ad infinitum. It sounds more like repackaged Hinduism than Christianity. Scripture forewarned us about these false gods. God wants to protect His people, to maintain purity and truth, and to censure the false prophets (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). The LDS failed so God took him out. However, the heresies of Joseph Smith still remain today.

Clearly no man ever attains Godhood, especially since the job is taken. "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else" (Isaiah 45:22). Do LDS authorities know more than the everlasting God? The LDS prophet Spencer W. Kimball clarified, "We are gods in embryo, and the Lord demands perfection of us" (The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 286).

No wonder LDS people make good science fiction writers! Joseph Smith claimed the moon is inhabited by people about six feet tall who dress like Quakers and live about 1,000 years (The Young Woman’s Journal, 1892, Vol.3, pp.263-264 and Journal of Oliver B. Huntington, Vol.3, p.166, typed copy at Utah State Historical Society). When the astronauts returned, a Christian said, "I have a question. Did you see any Quakers up there?" They said, "No!" Brigham Young went further to say that the sun is inhabited too (Journal of Discourses, 1880, p.271).

What has happened to the LDS? Joseph Smith adopted the very lie the devil used to deceive Eve, resulting in sin and destruction (Genesis 3:1-5; Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:1-10). So who met Joseph Smith in the grove? A distinct possibility is this "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14).

The fifth LDS prophet Lorenzo Snow said in 1840, "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become." In an interview with LDS Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley, he was asked about their doctrine that God was once a man: "There are some significant differences in your beliefs. For instance, don't Mormons believe that God was once a man?" He responded, "I wouldn't say that. There was a little couplet coined, 'As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become.' Now that's more of a couplet than anything else. That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don't know very much about" (San Francisco Chronicle, April 13, 1997).

A couplet in Websters is "two successive lines of poetry." So the prophet, seer and revelator of the LDS church could not understand the doctrine of God nor the LDS gospel? What he could not figure out, Joseph Smith made clear: "It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345). He missed the elementary basics of God?

Maybe Hinckley knew but he was just too ashamed. He was not like the Apostle Paul to speak for God. He said: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth" (Romans 1:16). Read more of the LDS prophet’s lie on the LDS god (Time, Aug. 4, 1997, p. 56). "Dodging and Dissembling Prophet?" is available at < www.irr.org/mit/>.

9 - IS JESUS THE GOD OF THIS WORLD?

According to LDS prophets, yes, he was. "And the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you the God of this world’" (Ezra Taft Benson as quoted by Gordon B. Hinckley in The Ensign, 5/92, p. 89). Christians object, "No, that has to be the devil!" Satan is "the god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4). The Jesus of the LDS is "the god of this world" and "the God of the land" in the Book of Mormon. Ether says, "if they will serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ" (2:12).

10 - IS JESUS PART OF THE TRINITY?

Identifying Jesus Christ does not prove a Trinity and that’s okay. The Bible never says to believe in the Trinity to be saved. So primarily, we are addressing who Jesus is and to believe in Him. To get it right on Jesus, then there is no problem in accepting truth about the Trinity. So Jesus first!

Trinitarian formulas are in both the Doctrine and Covenants and the Book of Mormon. Early on, Joseph Smith believed the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one God. The Doctrine and Covenants 20:19 is from1830. It commands, "love and serve him, the only living and true God" and worship him. Verse 28 explains further, the "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one God."

"The Testimony of the Three Witnesses" in the Book of Mormon says "And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God." Alma 11:44 reads, "Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God." (More in 2 Nephi 31:21; Mosiah 3:5-8; 7:27; 13:34-35; 15:1-5; Alma 11:28-31, 38; and Ether 3:14). Isn’t it clear, like take two tablets before bedtime? Is one God one God, or three gods?

11 - IS JESUS THE FATHER?

The early Mormon god was still unfortunately not "three Persons existing as one true God." Joseph Smith believed in a one god who existed in three modes of "one person," a strange heresy known as Modalism (Ether 3:14; 4:7-12; Mosiah 15:1-5). No wonder he wavered from that into other ideas!

12 - WAS JESUS HIS OWN FATHER?

How ridiculous? Yet this is what the original Book of Mormon read in 1830 that "the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and the Savior of the world" (1 Nephi, 1830 ed. p. 32). The Lamb, Jesus, is the Father. How is it possible for anyone to father himself?

13 - IS THE MORMON JESUS THE HEAVENLY FATHER’S GRANDSON?

How clear these errors in the Book of Mormon! The 1830 edition read about "the Son of the only begotton of the Father" (Alma 5:48, p. 236, line 29). Since the begotten one is Jesus Christ, who is this son? A different Jesus and a different god indeed! Another inspired testament of Jesus Christ? It is never on the level of the Bible. How could the Book of Mormon ever be word-for-word perfect from God?

14 - IS JESUS JUST ONE OF MANY GODS?

Joseph Smith should have known the answer but while he was busy starting a religion he was not sure. He voiced that uncertainty in 1830 "whether there be one God or many gods" (D&C 121:28).

He then abandoned the one person of one god heresy, that Jesus is the Father, and drifted to say the "Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three separate Gods" (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 576-577). For a fuller definition, "There are three Gods--the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost--who, though separate in personality, are united as one in purpose, in plan, and in all the attributes of perfection" (Mormon Doctrine, p. 317). Where in the Bible does it say God is just "one in purpose"? "One in purpose" versus "God is one" will never be able to redefine the Almighty. Three Gods are never one God? One Godhead of three Persons is not three gods.

Joseph Smith rewrote the creation account of Genesis to be a council of Gods (Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 4-5). So the LDS Jesus became one of the many gods.

Why is the gospel of the Book of Mormon different? It claims that it "contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel" (Introduction). If so, then where is this Plurality of Gods? A God of flesh and bones? God being an exalted man? Eternal progression? Preexistence? Polygamy? A heavenly mother? Adding to the both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, changing the gospel leads to curses (Galatians 1:6-9 and 3 Nephi 11:39-40). The LDS have added to the gospel. Joseph Smith even changed the Bible and including Revelation in his "Joseph Smith Translation." That means he is cursed (Revelation 22:18-19).

In John 1:1 we read, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The Bible is monotheistic. John as a Jewish Christian would be fiercely monotheist. Two or more true Gods is never an option in Judaism or Christianity. For example, suppose Jimmy Smith was standing with his father James in Salt Lake City. We might say: "In Salt Lake City there was Jimmy, and Jimmy was with Smith, and Jimmy was Smith." If this little concept is explainable in human terms, how much more true do we need to believe what the Bible says about the infinite God. The Word is God is Jesus and "the Word was made flesh" (vs. 14).

Joseph Smith rewrote John 1:1 to read that the word was with the Son. Now it’s like Jesus has a twin or Jesus is Himself who is another. "In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God" (JST). There is no manuscript support for any of Joseph Smith’s so-called Inspired Version.

God or "a God"? The LDS Bible Dictionary, page 681, says: Now all this took place that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled, saying, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which translated means, "A God with us." Is this the Bible Jesus? It is another Jesus.

15 - IS ADAM OUR GOD BUT JESUS ISN’T?

Following Joseph’s pattern, Brigham Young changed God. In 1854, he taught in General Conference that Adam is God (JD, 1:50-51, 1854). He kept preaching this! In 1873, it was, "God revealed to me--namely that Adam is our Father and God" (Deseret Evening News, June 14, 1873). Compare the D&C 27:11 and 138:38. Brigham threatened that the failure to accept this meant your "salvation or damnation" (Journal of Discourses, Vol.1, p. 51, April 9, 1852). His claim to authority was "I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call Scripture" (JD 13:95).

Brigham Young, the LDS prophet, seer and revelator is credited with much of the LDS foundation. So what happens to people when their spiritual leaders never knew God? What about all of those Mormons who followed him to worship that false god all those years? God warns about paganism. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). Isn’t it ironic to name a university after a false prophet?

16 - WAS JESUS VIRGIN BORN?

The story goes that Heavenly Father, being Mary’s literal father in pre-existence, had sex with her to produce Jesus Christ. The LDS god had incest with his own daughter (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 546-547). So this LDS Jesus was really the son of a deity named Adam. God rejects that as being Christian.

Mormon theology describes the birth of Jesus in human reproductive terms. Brigham stated it clearly: "A personage of flesh and bone, He shall beget this Son in the same manner as Cain and Abel and all the other sons and daughters of Adam and Eve were begotten" (JD, 1:50-51). "The Christ Child shall be the result of 'natural action'--flesh and blood, begotten of his Father as we were of our fathers" (JD, 8:115). "Then shall it be said, 'The man Joseph, the husband of Mary, did not, that we know of, have more than one wife, but Mary the wife of Joseph had another husband…Do you inquire by whom? He was begotten by God our Heavenly Father" (JD, 11:268, 1866).

James E. Talmage had more to say on this. He called it "A miracle--though not in violation of natural law--the literal offspring of this 'celestial Sireship'" (Jesus the Christ, p. 81).

The prominent Mormon, Orson Pratt clarified: "Mary was concerned because of her betrothal to Joseph. The angel explained, ‘You and the Father will associate together in the capacity of Husband and Wife; hence, you will be, for at least a time, the lawful wife of God the Father. After He is finished with you, the Father will give you to Joseph. God will be your first husband’" (The Seer, p. 158). When did God’s angel ever speak such blasphemy? Never!

Who is the true Jesus? Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son (John 1:14,18; 3:16). Gordon B. Hinckley said Jesus is the "Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh" (The Ensign, 12-94, p. 4). Don’t miss the significance of the unique LDS wording "in the flesh." He meant in contrast to being "spirit children." The true Jesus is the only begotten Son and with no "in the flesh" distinction.

The LDS believe the devil is a son of God, we are all children of God, and Jesus is distinct because of being born by sex. The teaching to the LDS people puts it this way, "Jesus is the only person who had our Heavenly Father as the father of his body" (Family Home Evening Manual, 1972, pp.125-126).

Tragically, the LDS prophets miss the obvious of the miraculous conception. It was not the Father at all who came over Mary but the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 7:13; Mat. 1:18; Luke 1:34). Even Alma 7:10 concurs that Mary as "a virgin" would conceive. How? - "by the power of the Holy Ghost." Jesus went into her womb without the normal human conception process (Luke 1:34-35). How can that be? God tells us, nothing is impossible with God! (Vs. 37).

McConkie fancifully argued, "suffice it to say that our Lord was born of a virgin, which is fitting and proper, and also natural, since the Father of the Child was an immortal Being...He is the Son of God in the same sense and way that we are the sons of mortal fathers" (The Promised Messiah, pp.466, 468). No, his foolishness and lame excuses will never suffice.

So Mormonism totally destroys the Biblical truth of the virgin birth. Of course Mormons do not believe the Bible! Of they did they would have to reject Mormonism. Brigham Young firmly denied the truth of the Biblical account to claim, "Jesus Christ was not begotten by the Holy Ghost" (JD, Vol.1:50-51). A physical Father having sex with Mary brings us to one conclusion, she would no longer be a virgin (Mormon Doctrine, p.546-547).

Is Mormonism Christian? God’s people know nothing of any Adam-god having physical intercourse with his spirit daughter who conceived through an act of incest.

17 - DID MARY GIVE BIRTH TO HER OLDER BROTHER?

In following this breathtaking Mormon puzzle, Mary gave birth to her firstborn son who was her elder brother in the pre-existence (Victor L. Ludlow, Principles and Practices of the Restored Gospel, p. 43). Reading on, could this be where the song, "I’m my own Grand-paw" came from?

18 - IS JEHOVAH OUR ELDER BROTHER?

Imagine trying to convince any Jew through the ages that Jehovah God is our brother! Mormons as Jews back then would have been stoned to death for speaking blasphemy. Mormonism teaches that we were all spirit children of Heavenly Father to say "The principal personalities in this great drama were a Father Elohim, perfect in wisdom, judgment, and person, and two sons, Lucifer and Jehovah," meaning Satan and Jesus (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pp.32-33). So we find Mormons freely speaking of Jesus as being "our elder brother."

3 comments:

Regarding Questions 1 and 2, saying that Mormons preach a "different Jesus" is somewhat misleading unless you also say that Christians preach a "different Jesus" from Mormons.

If it comes down to a matter of biblical interpretation, the Mormon claim is that the "false Christs" and "different gospels" belong to mainstream Christianity, and that the Mormons are the group who follow the Bible and its teachings most accurately.